For a second time this season, the Houston Rockets have assigned Royce White — the No. 16 overall pick from the last draft — to their D-League team. And for the second time he has refused the assignment.

And from here it’s just hard to see him ever playing a moment for the Rockets.

After a six-week absence from the team as White and the Rockets disagreed over the best course of action to help him play and deal with his anxiety disorder, White had returned to working out at the team facilities this week. Then the Rockets assigned White to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.

I do wish to play, but I only intend to do so with the collaboration and recommendation of trained professionals. The purpose of a doctor’s confirmation is to ensure that health decisions are made in the sole interest of health and not conflicted with business. My only hope is that decision makers involved realize that doctors are the only logical source to decide action.

There is an admitted lack of knowledge on behalf of the Rockets and the NBA, it becomes transparent as they choose to forego the knowledge of trained professionals and make independent decisions for something as complex as mental health without consulting any doctors. The Rockets have told me in recent conversations that it is their right to decline even their own doctors’ recommendations. The concept of not listening to medical consultants in medical situations is alarming. It is also alarming that a player is susceptible to fines for simply adhering to the recommendation of doctors.

It is true that accommodating mental health can be very tough and complex, however, sometimes the only reasonable solution to doing what is right is doing what is tough. To portray that the Rockets have been supportive to me is fundamentally incorrect.

White has said continuously that he has not gotten enough if any support from the Rockets organization to help him be a functioning NBA player. The Rockets have been supportive publicly but have said in multiple reports that they have tried a number of steps to accommodate White but that he has not followed through on his end.

I’m not going to pretend to know what is the appropriate way to deal with White’s disorder (my psych minor only gets me so far). My understanding is that one of the ways to best deal with the anxiety is a regular routine schedule, but that is something nearly impossible to do with the travel and varied games times of an NBA team. There clearly is no easy solution.

But the idea of White getting some burn in the D-League before coming up to the NBA squad makes basketball sense.

And more importantly for White, slamming your employer in public — while not having played a game for them — does not help make your point or case to a broader public. If his goal is to show Rockets fans and everyone else that the Rockets are in the wrong here and are not helping him properly, these kinds of statements (not to mention twitter rants) defeat his own purpose. He loses the battle of perception with these things and that hurts his overall cause.

Really, from here it’s just hard to imagine White and the Rockets ending up on the same page, or at least close enough to that page where he would join the team and play.

In other Rockets news, they are adding to their roster on the perimeter, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports and the NBC Sports Network.

James Anderson will sign with the Houston Rockets today, league sources tell Y! Sports.

the Wizards have shown little appetite for dealing Otto Porter anywhere for a return heavy on future assets and cap flexibility, sources say

John Wall‘s massive contract looked barely movable even before he underwent season-ending surgery. Washington seems unwilling to take a step back by trading star Bradley Beal.

So, that leaves unloading Porter – who’s earning $26,011,913 this year and due $55,739,815 over the next two seasons – as the obvious way to create cap flexibility and accumulate future assets. If the Wizards are unwilling to do that, it speaks volumes to their plan.

They don’t want to rebuild. They want to win now. Porter can help them do that.

In many ways, it’s noble Washington is so committed to winning, even at great expense. That’s generally what we want from teams. We don’t want them to give up or cut costs just because they’re a couple games out of playoff position midway through the season.

But the Wizards’ spending has been… uneven. Leonsis greenlit a payroll well into the luxury tax and is apparently willing to keep Porter, which likely keeps that payroll high. Yet, Washington is also holding as many roster spots vacant as allowed, offering small savings rather than adding depth amid multiple injuries.

Maybe the Wizards just don’t believe they could sign minimum-salary players who’d actually help. But insurance never hurts on the court.

So, Washington is left looking content holding its few major contracts, nickeling-and-diming down the roster, winning a barely moderate amount and not gaining better position for the future. I’m unconvinced that’s a worthy vision, but if that’s what the Wizards want, keeping Porter helps stay that course.

Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart has been fined $35,000 for aggressively pursuing an opponent in an attempt to escalate a physical altercation and failing to leave the court in a timely manner following his ejection, it was announced today by Kiki VanDeWeghe, Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations.

The incident, which took place after Smart was assessed his second technical foul and was ejected, occurred with 7:35 remaining in the third quarter of the Celtics’ 113-105 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Jan. 19

Smart was seemingly near the line between this fine and a suspension. He’s fortunate to land on the side he did.